Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference in Moscow on Thursday. / Alexander Zemlianichenko

by Bradley Secker and Ruby Russell
Special for USA TODAY, USA TODAY

by Bradley Secker and Ruby Russell
Special for USA TODAY, USA TODAY

ANTAKYA, Turkey - Syrian activists say Russian President Vladimir Putin's apparent about-face on a negotiated settlement to end hostilities in Syria has come too late to save his ally Bashar Assad.

"If Russia wants to save their face (in the eyes of) the Syrian population, it must take radical action against Bashar al-Assad and to support the Free Syrian Army and the opposition with money and weapons," said Sami Ibrahim, of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, speaking from the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Putin has supported Assad through the uprising that began in March 2011 and has cost the lives of 40,000 civilians, according to United Nations estimates. Russia has vetoed attempts to strengthen U.N. sanctions against Assad's regime, and has provided the government with weaponry.

As news reports of rebel military gains increase, Putin said Thursday that he is "not preoccupied" with Assad's grip on Syria and would support a negotiated settlement of the war.

"We realize what's going on there and that the family has been in power for 40 years. Undoubtedly, there is a call for changes," he said.

Analysts say Putin may be trying to get on the good side of the rebels in case they prevail. Russia has a naval port on Syria's Mediterranean coast that it would like to keep no matter who controls Syria, they say.

"Had the Russians applied pressure a year ago, it might have [been effective]," said Fawaz Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at London School of Economics. "But the military situation on the ground has escalated, and I doubt very much whether the Russians can make a difference at the end of the day."

Rebel fighters hold large areas of the north of the country surrounding Aleppo and have captured two military bases there.

"The Russians are taking notice that the Assad regime could lose the struggle," Gerges said.

Hozan Ibrahim, a Syrian activist in Berlin, suggested Putin was reacting to the recent recognition by the international community of the newly created Syrian National Coalition, a collection of Assad opponents.

"I see the new attitude is a part of changes in the rules of the game for the Syrian crisis in the last two months," he said.

Putin did not offer support for the opposition. He warned that the overthrow of Assad could lead to more violence.

"Agreements based on a military victory cannot be effective," Putin said.

Bassam al Ahmed, a Syrian activist working in Turkey close to the Syrian border, scoffed at Putin's claim to care about violence in Syria.

"The majority of the military equipment and current help for the Syrian regime comes from Russia," said Ahmed, who as a member of the Violations and Documentation Center helps to verify human rights abuses in Syria. "If they didn't want this (civil war), why have they been helping to create it so far?"

In Damascus, where battles have raged in recent days and food is becoming scarce in some areas, activists say the international community needs to intervene militarily to prevent a humanitarian disaster.

"We have had thousands of statements, issued by America, Canada, the United Nations, from the Friends of Syria," Ibrahim said. "What is the use of these statements? We need action on the ground."